Tottenham Hotspur were denied a late winner as Antonio Conte’s men battled out a solitary point against Sporting CP in the Champions League on Wednesday.
A win could have sent Tottenham to the knockout stages, with Eintracht Frankfurt beating Marseille. But they stretched their fate to the last matchday and should bury all the doubts with a clear-cut performance in that clash.
Lucas Moura had an early chance when Eric Dier’s looping ball came to him. But the Brazilian was unable to take any advantage. Sporting CP soon grabbed an away goal as Marcus Edwards outmuscled Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg. And Hugo Lloris had no answer for Edwards’s 25 yards shot.
Tottenham tried to get back in the game as both Harry Kane and Dier came close. But Antonio Adan stood tall in his goal, denying all the advances. The breakthrough finally came as Ivan Perisic’s corner was met by Rodrigo Bentancur, who headed home to keep their hopes alive.
Kane thought he had secured a late winner for the home side as he nodded in Perisic’s cross. But VAR thought otherwise, ruling the goal out for an offside leading to a furious reaction from Antonio Conte. The manager was later given the marching order by the referee. The Hard Tackle now runs the rule over Antonio Conte’s men.
Hugo Lloris: 5/10
Marcus Edwards caught the Tottenham goalkeeper by surprise as he latched a grounded shot, and the 35-year-old could not lay a hand even by his outstretched palm. He made a flurry of saves later in the game to keep Spurs in the hunt.
Matt Doherty: 5/10
Doherty did not do anything spectacular except running around. Emerson Royal should be back for the next match.
Cristian Romero: 6/10
Romero allowed Edwards acres of space to have a shot at the goal. The Argentine tried to compensate in the second half as he marched ahead to join the attack a number of times.
Eric Dier: 4/10
Dier had seemed a certainty in the three-man backline at the start of the season. But his regressive efforts have put his team on the brink of danger a few times. The Englishman could not react in the build-up to Sporting’s goal and struggled to get the tempo down. He had a brilliant chance to win the game, but his header went wide.
Ben Davies: 5/10
Davies had the intent to combine with the attackers but had little jo. The Welsh defender tried to contain Marcus Edwards and had a decent duel.
Ivan Perisic: 6.5/10
Perisic picked out Rodrigo Bentancur with a perfectly taken corner as Tottenham equalised late in the game. Kane scored from his cross at the very last moment, but VAR ruled out the goal for offside. A decent effort from the Croat.
Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg: 6/10
Hojbjerg was left exposed by Edwards as the midfielder tried to stop the onrushing Sporting CP man with a tackle but went in vain. The Dane showed more energy after the interval.
Rodrigo Bentancur: 8/10
Bentancur made some marshalling runs into the attacking third and had some lively moments to get past a couple of players into the box. But the moves did not yield much for the most part. However, he rose the highest to meet Perisic’s delivery as Tottenham pegged back one goal.
Lucas Moura: 5/10
Lucas Moura looked rusty in his first start of the season and could not match up the performance of his fellow attackers.
Harry Kane: 5.5/10
Kane, the player to watch in our preview, looked lost in the game. He tested Adan with a powerful volley only to see it get fisted away. The England captain had a goal ruled out at the late juncture of the game.
Son Heung-min: 5/10
Son put in a hard shift but lacked the composure. He needs to rediscover his form quickly to improve his fortunes.
SUBSTITUTES
Bryan Gil: 6/10
The corner came as a result of his shot getting deflected off a Sporting player. Gil looked lively in a brief cameo.
Clement Lenglet: N/A
Did not play enough to warranty a rating.
Emerson Royal: N/A
Did not play enough to warranty a rating.
